If the Olympics goes ahead as planned, Canada will not send a team

UPDATE: Early Monday morning, the Australian Olympic Committee also announced it will not be sending athletes to Tokyo 2020 if the Games are not postponed.

On Sunday evening, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced that it will not send athletes to a summer 2020 Olympic Games. They are backed by the Government of Canada, the national sporting organizations and the athletes’ commissions.

The statements reads: “This is not solely about athlete health–it is about public health. With COVID-19 and the associated risks, it is not safe for our athletes, and the health and safety of their families and the broader Canadian community for athletes to continue training towards these Games. In fact, it runs counter to the public health advice which we urge all Canadians to follow.”

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While there’s a chance that the IOC and Tokyo organizing committee will decide to push the Games until summer 2021, a decision that the COC fully supports, there won’t be any Canadians running if the event goes as planned. On Sunday, the BBC reported that the IOC has given itself four weeks to decide the fate of the 2020 Games.

USATF has called for postponement

It’s not just the COC that is taking a stand. On Saturday, USATF (USA Track and Field) became one of several national sporting organizations asking the IOC to postpone this year’s Olympic Games. It wrote, “Unfortunately, while our world class athletes are willing to push themselves to their athletic limits in pursuit of Olympic success, the likelihood that they will be able to train in a safe and adequate environment, and replicate the excellence that we have all come to expect, does not appear likely in the midst of this global crisis.”

As of now, Canadian athletes have clarity on the situation, and the rest of the world’s athletes will know shortly.